Virtual resource selection for a virtual resource creation request

ABSTRACT

In some examples, a system associates, with a plurality of virtual resources deployed in a cloud environment, properties representative of characteristics of the virtual resources, the properties comprising a performance level of a virtual resource. The system receives a request to create a virtual resource in the cloud environment, and, in response to determining that properties of the virtual resource to be created for the request satisfy a criterion with respect to properties of a given virtual resource of the plurality of virtual resources, selects the given virtual resource as a candidate virtual resource for the request.

BACKGROUND

A cloud environment includes resources that are useable by tenants ofthe cloud environment. Examples of cloud environments include publiccloud environments, private cloud environments, and hybrid cloudenvironments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some implementations of the present disclosure are described withrespect to the following figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example arrangement that includes avirtual resource recommendation engine and a tag manager according tosome examples.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a process according to some examples.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a storage medium storing machine-readableinstructions according to some examples.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system according to some examples.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a process according to further examples.

Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar,but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarilyto scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearlyillustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examplesand/or implementations consistent with the description; however, thedescription is not limited to the examples and/or implementationsprovided in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present disclosure, use of the term “a,” “an”, or “the” isintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. Also, the term “includes,” “including,”“comprises,” “comprising,” “have,” or “having” when used in thisdisclosure specifies the presence of the stated elements, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of other elements.

Examples of resources of a cloud environment that can be deployed foruse by tenants of the cloud environment include any or some combinationof the following: processing resources, storage resources, communicationresources, programs (including machine-readable instructions), and soforth. A cloud environment can include a public cloud, which is a cloudavailable to tenants over a public network, such as the Internet.Alternatively, a cloud environment can include a private cloud, which isa cloud available to tenants with specified permissions, such as userswithin an enterprise that operates the private cloud. As a furtherexample, a cloud environment can include a hybrid cloud, which caninclude a mix of public and private clouds.

In some cases, a cloud environment can include virtual resources thatcan be created in response to requests from tenants. A virtual resourcean refer to a virtual machine, a container, or any other type of virtualresource. Programs are executable in a virtual machine or a container.Other examples of virtual resources can include a virtual storage tostore data, or a virtual communication resource (e.g., a virtual switch,a virtual router, etc.) to handle routing or transfer of data through anetwork.

A tenant can submit a request to create a virtual resource in a cloudenvironment. As used here, a “tenant” can refer to an individual user,an organization (e.g., a company or a department or other group withinthe organization), a project, and so forth. Creating a virtual resourcecan refer to deploying a new instance of a virtual resource (e.g., avirtual machine) that is not already deployed.

The tenant may already have previously requested deployment of othervirtual resources in the cloud environment. In some cases, some of thevirtual resources may have available capacity to handle more workload.If a request to create a virtual resource results in the creation of anew virtual resource in the cloud environment without considering theexistence of other already deployed virtual resources that may haveexcess capacity, then a tenant may incur additional costs (such as costscharged by a cloud provider for the new virtual resource) and/or powerusage or usage of resources due to the creation of the new virtualresource.

In accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure, inresponse to a request to create a virtual resource, a system is able todetermine whether an already deployed virtual resource can be used tosatisfy the request, without creating a new virtual resource.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example arrangement that includes ahybrid cloud environment 102 that is managed by a hybrid cloudmanagement engine 104. As used here, an “engine” can refer to a hardwareprocessing circuit, which can include any or some combination of amicroprocessor, a core of a multi-core microprocessor, amicrocontroller, a programmable integrated circuit, a programmable gatearray, a digital signal processor, or another hardware processingcircuit. Alternatively, an “engine” can refer to a combination of ahardware processing circuit and machine-readable instructions (softwareand/or firmware) executable on the hardware processing circuit.

The hybrid cloud management engine 104 includes onboarding logic 106 toonboard public cloud providers 108, such as public cloud provider A andpublic cloud provider B. The onboarding logic 106 can also onboard aprivate cloud provider 110. A public cloud provider operates a publiccloud, and a private cloud provider operates a private cloud. Althoughspecific numbers of public and private cloud providers are shown in FIG.1, it is noted that different numbers of public and private cloudproviders can be used in other examples.

Onboarding a cloud provider refers to making available resources of therespective cloud operated by the cloud provider. Onboarding a publiccloud provider makes available, in the hybrid cloud environment 102,resources of the corresponding public cloud operated by the onboardedpublic cloud provider, and onboarding a private cloud provider refers tomaking available, in the hybrid cloud environment 102, resources of aprivate cloud operated by the onboarded private cloud provider.

Although the example of FIG. 1 depicts the hybrid cloud environment 102in which resources of public and private clouds can be made available totenants, it is noted that in other examples, the hybrid cloudenvironment 102 can be replaced with a public cloud environment or aprivate cloud environment.

The onboarding logic 106 can be implemented as part of the hardwareprocessing circuit of the hybrid cloud management engine 104, oralternatively, can include machine-readable instructions executed by thehybrid cloud management engine 104.

A tenant 112 can use a tenant system 114 to access the hybrid cloudenvironment 102 over a network 116. The tenant 112 can refer to anindividual user, an organization, or a project. The network 116 caninclude a public network, such as the Internet. Alternatively, thenetwork 116 can include a different type of network, such as a localarea network (LAN), a wide area network (WLAN), and so forth.

The tenant system 114 can be implemented using any of various differentcomputing devices, such as a desktop computer, a notebook computer, atablet computer, a smartphone, and so forth. The tenant system 114 isable to present a cloud user interface (UI) 118. The cloud UI 118 can beused by the tenant 112 to submit requests to the hybrid cloudenvironment 102, and more specifically, to the hybrid cloud managementengine 104. For example, the cloud UI 118 can be used by the tenant 112to submit a request to create a VM in the hybrid cloud environment 102for the tenant 112.

As shown in FIG. 1, a number of VM instances 120 are deployed for aparticular tenant, such as the tenant 112. A VM instance 120 refers to aVM instance that is deployed using resources of a public cloud orprivate cloud operated by a public cloud provider 108 or private cloudprovider 110.

A VM instance can be deployed based on a VM image provided by arespective cloud provider. Multiple VM instances can be deployed basedon the same VM image. Moreover, a cloud provider can provide multipledifferent VM images, such as VM images for deploying VM instances thatexecute different types of operating systems (OSs) and/or applicationprograms. A “VM image” can refer to a program code (machine-readableinstructions) that when executed causes the creation of an instance ofthe corresponding VM.

Although FIG. 1 shows just one tenant 112 and the associated tenantsystem 114, it is noted that there can be multiple tenants andassociated tenant systems that are able to access the hybrid cloudenvironment 102.

Also, although reference is made to deploying VMs for tenants, it isnoted that in other examples, other types of virtual resources of thehybrid cloud environment 102 can additionally or alternatively beprovided to tenants.

In accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure, thehybrid cloud management engine 104 includes a tag manager 122 and a VMrecommendation logic 124. In some examples, the tag manager 122 and/orthe VM recommendation logic 124 can be implemented using a portion ofthe hardware processing circuit of the hybrid cloud management engine104, or as machine-readable instructions executable by the hybrid cloudmanagement engine 104.

Although FIG. 1 shows the tag manager 122, the VM recommendation logic124, and the onboarding logic 106 as being part of the hybrid cloudmanagement engine 104, in other examples, any or some combination of thetag manager 122, the VM recommendation logic 124, and the onboardinglogic 106 can be implemented separately from the hybrid cloud managementengine 104.

The tag manager 122 is able to assign tags to deployed VM instances 120for each respective tenant. As used here “tags” can refer to attributesthat represent properties of a VM. Examples of properties of a VM caninclude any or some combination of the following: a VM image that isused to deploy the VM, a number of virtual central processing units(CPUs) of the VM, a storage capacity of a memory for the VM, a storageperformance expected of the VM, a networking performance expected of theVM, and so forth. The virtual CPU property and storage capacity propertyare examples of a property relating to a resource of a VM. The VM imageproperty can also be considered a property that relates to an OS used ina VM instance created based on the VM image.

Although example properties of the VMs are listed above, it is notedthat in other examples, alternative or additional properties can berepresented by respective tags.

The tag manager 122 can maintain a tag database 126 (or other type ofdata structure) that correlates tags to respective deployed VMinstances.

As an example, the following Table 1 shows an example of tag correlationinformation (for correlating tags to respective VM instances) that canbe included in the tag database 126.

TABLE 1 UID Cloud (Image_CPU_Mem_StoragePerformance_NetworkPerformance)VM Instance Provider Image1_2_8_LM_LM Deployment1 Provider AImage2_1_2_L_L Deployment2 Provider A Image3_1_2_L_L Deployment3Provider B Deployment7 Provider B Image4_2_4_LM_LM Deployment4 ProviderC Image5_8_32_H_H Deployment5 Provider B Deployment6 Provider BImage6_8_32_L_L Deployment8 Provider D

In the example Table 1 above, eight different deployed VM instances arereferred to as “Deployment 1,” “Deployment 2,” “Deployment 3,” . . .“Deployment8.” A unique identifier (UID) in the first column of Table 1includes the tags associated with a respective deployed VM instance. Inthe example of Table 1, the tags make up a UID for the corresponding VMinstance. For example, the UID can include a string of the tagsassociated with the corresponding VM instance. In Table 1, the UID hasthe form Image_CPU_Mem_StoragePerformance_NetworkPerformance, which is astring of the following tags: Image (an attribute that identifies a VMimage used to create the VM instance), CPU (an attribute that identifiesa number of virtual CPUs of the VM instance), Mem (an attribute thatidentifies a storage capacity of a memory for the VM instance),StoragePerformance (an attribute that identifies a storage performanceexpected of the VM instance), and NetworkPerformance (an attribute thatidentifies a networking performance expected of the VM instance).

In the first row of Table 1 for the VM instance labelled Deployment1,the UID has the form Image1_2_8_LM_LM, which indicates that a VM imagenamed Image) was used to create the VM instance, the number of virtualCPUs is 2, a storage capacity of a memory for the VM instance is 8gigabytes (GB), the storage performance has level “LM,” and thenetworking performance has level “LM.”

The third row of Table 1 indicates that Image3 is used to create VMinstances Deployment3 and Deployment7.

In some examples, the storage performance can be expressed as low (L),low to moderate (LM), or high (H). Similarly, the networking performancecan be expressed as low (L), low to moderate (LM), and high (H). Thestorage performance of L indicates that the corresponding VM instance isexpected to have a low storage capacity. The storage performance of LMindicates that the VM instance is expected to have an intermediatestorage performance, while a storage performance of H indicates that theVM instance is expected to have a high storage capacity.

Similarly, a networking performance of L indicates that the networkingcapacity of the VM instance is expected to be low, a networkingperformance of LM indicates that the networking capacity of the VMinstance is expected to be intermediate, and a networking performance ofH indicates that the networking capacity of the VM instance is expectedto be high.

In other examples, the storage performance and/or the networkingperformance can be expressed using other metrics.

In the example Table 1 above, a third column identifies a cloud providerfor each VM instance, including providers A, B, C, and D in the exampleof Table 1.

Although a specific example is shown in Table 1, it is noted that inother examples, a different format can be used to correlate deployed VMinstances to corresponding properties (as represented by tags) of the VMinstances.

Also, instead of using a UID that includes a string of tags associatedwith each respective VM instance, in a different example, the UID caninclude a number or a character string that maps to another datastructure that correlates each UID to corresponding properties of the VMinstance.

The hybrid cloud management engine 104 can also include a resourceutilization collector 128, which can be implemented using a portion ofthe hardware processing circuit of the hybrid cloud management engine104, or as machine-readable instructions executable by the hybrid cloudmanagement engine 104. Alternatively, the resource utilization collector128 can be separate from the hybrid cloud management engine 104.

The resource utilization collector 128 is able to interact with eachcloud provider, such as with an application programming interface (API)150 or 152 of the respective cloud provider, to collect utilizationmetrics associated with respective VM instances that are deployed fortenants. A utilization metric can indicate a portion of a resource thatis utilized, or an available portion of a resource that is stillavailable for allocation, and so forth. For example, given a VMinstance, a utilization metric can indicate a portion of the given VMinstance that is consumed, such as a number of the virtual CPUs of thegiven VM instance that is (are) performing a workload, an amount of thememory of the given VM instance that is used to store data, and soforth.

The metrics collected by the resource utilization collector 128 can beused to update the tag database 126, for indicating the utilization ofeach respective deployed VM instance. For example, Table 2 below addsanother column (Utilization<Threshold) to Table 1, where the addedcolumn provides a parameter indicating whether or not utilization of acorresponding VM instance is below a utilization threshold (e.g., 20%,10%, 50%, etc.).

TABLE 2 Cloud Utilization < UID VM Instance Provider ThresholdImage1_2_8_LM_LM Deployment1 Provider A No Image2_1_2_L_L Deployment2Provider A No Image3_1_2_L_L Deployment3 Provider B No Deployment7Provider B No Image4_2_4_LM_LM Deployment4 Provider C No Image5_8_32_H_HDeployment5 Provider B No Deployment6 Provider B Yes Image6_8_32_L_LDeployment8 Provider D Yes

A first value (“Yes” or a logic high in Table 2) of theUtilization<Threshold column can indicate that utilization of therespective VM instance is below the threshold, whereas a second value(“No” or a logic low in Table 2) of the Utilization<Threshold column canindicate that utilization of the VM instance is not below the threshold.

In other examples, instead of storing values indicating whether or notutilization of a VM instance is below a threshold, actual utilizationmetric values can be included in Table 2.

Referring further to FIG. 2, a process 200 is shown that can beperformed by various components of the hybrid cloud management engine104. The following discussion also refers to FIG. 1.

The process 200 includes onboarding (at 202), by the onboarding logic106, cloud providers. Once a cloud provider is onboarded, VM images forthe cloud provider can be retrieved by the onboarding logic 106 (fromdata repositories maintained by the onboarded cloud providers) andstored in a catalog registry 130 (or other type of data structure)contained in a database 130. The catalog registry 132 can maintain, foreach cloud provider, respective VM images for respective different typesof VMs (such as VMs employing different types of OSs or applicationprograms).

An example catalog registry is provided in Table 3 below.

TABLE 3 Catalog Type Catalog Images Provider A Images Image1 Image2Provider B Images Image3 Image5 Provider C Images Image4 Provider DImages Image6

The first column of Table 3 indicates a type, which in this examplerefers to a type of image provided by a respective cloud provider. Thesecond column of Table 3 indicates the images available for each type.For example, the first row of Table 3 indicates that two images (Image1and Image2) are available for type Provider A Images.

In other examples, the catalog registry 132 can have a different format.

The process 200 can also further retrieve (at 204) informationpertaining to various deployed VM instances, for storage as VM instanceinformation 134 in the database 130.

TABLE 4 Storage Networking Provider VM Instance CPU Mem PerformancePerformance Provider Deployment1 2 8 LM LM A Deployment2 1 2 L LProvider Deployment3 1 2 L L B Deployment5 8 32 H H Deployment6 8 32 H HDeployment7 1 2 L L Provider Deployment4 2 4 LM LM C ProviderDeployment8 8 32 L L D

In Table 4, columns 3 to 6 include properties (number of virtual CPUs,memory capacity, storage performance, and networking performance) ofeach deployed VM instance. The first column of Table 4 identifies therespective cloud provider, and the second column of Table 4 identifiesthe deployed VM instance.

In other examples, the VM instance information 134 can have a differentformat.

The process 200 further includes constructing (at 206), by the hybridcloud management engine 104, mapping information 136 that maps VM imagesto deployed VM instances. The mapping information 136 can also be storedin the database 130.

An example of the mapping information 136 is shown in Table 5 below.

TABLE 5 Catalog Images VM Instance Cloud Provider Image1 Deployment1Provider A Image2 Deployment2 Provider A Image3 Deployment3 Provider BImage4 Deployment4 Provider C Image5 Deployment5 Provider B Image5Deployment6 Provider B Image3 Deployment7 Provider B Image6 Deployment8Provider D

In Table 5, the first column identifies the various VM images, and thesecond column identifies respective VM instances that have beendeployed. The third column identifies the respective cloud provider.

In other examples, the mapping information 136 can have a differentformat.

The process 200 includes using (at 208), by the tag manager 122, the VMinstance information 134 and mapping information 136 to produce tags forrespective VM instances, such as in Table 1 above (stored in the tagdatabase 126).

Moreover, the process 200 includes using (at 210), by the tag manager122, utilization metrics collected by the resource utilization collector128 to indicate which VM instances have utilization below a threshold,such as in Table 2 above (stored in the tag database 126).

The process 200 receives (at 212), by the VM recommendation logic 124, arequest (140) to create a VM. In response to the request 140, the VMrecommendation logic 124 accesses (at 214) the tag database 126 todetermine whether an already deployed VM instance 120 can be used tosatisfy the request 140. This determination can be based on determiningwhether properties of the VM to be created (as specified in the request140) matches properties of any of the already deployed VM instances 120.As used here, properties of a VM to be created “matches” properties ofan already deployed VM instance if the properties of the VM to becreated are identical or otherwise similar to within a specifiedtolerance to properties of the already deployed VM instance. Note thatin some examples, a matching already deployed VM instance 120 to be usedfor the request 140 can be based on whether the selected alreadydeployed VM instance 120 has a utilization below the threshold (seeTable 2 above for example). In some cases, the matching already deployedVM instance 120 is selected for the request 140 if the matching alreadydeployed VM instance 120 has a utilization below the threshold. In otherexamples, the matching already deployed VM instance 120 can be selectedfor the request 140 regardless of whether its utilization is below thethreshold.

In examples where properties of multiple already deployed VM instancesmatch the properties of a VM to be created, then the VM recommendationlogic 124 can select one of the multiple already deployed VM instancesbased on a criterion. For example, the criterion can include which ofthe multiple already deployed VM instances has the least utilization.

If the VM recommendation logic 124 determines that an already deployedVM instance can be used to satisfy the request, then the VMrecommendation logic 124 provides (at 216) a first indication to thehybrid cloud management engine 104 of a selected deployed VM instance touse to satisfy the request 140. However, if the VM recommendation logic124 determines that a new VM instance is to be created in response tothe request, then the VM recommendation logic 124 provides (at 218) asecond indication to the hybrid cloud management engine 104 that a newVM instance based on the properties specified in the request 140 is tobe created.

In response to the first indication or the second indication, the hybridcloud management engine 104 performs (at 220) a VM instance allocationaction in response to the request 140. The VM instance allocation actionincludes allocating, in response to the first indication, the selecteddeployed VM instance to the requesting tenant. Alternatively, the VMinstance allocation action includes creating a new VM instance for therequesting tenant in response to the second indication.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a non-transitory machine-readable orcomputer-readable storage medium 300 storing machine-readableinstructions that upon execution cause a system to perform varioustasks.

The machine-readable instructions include property associationinstructions 302 to associate, with a plurality of virtual resources(e.g., VMs and/or other types of virtual resources) deployed in a cloudenvironment, properties representative of characteristics of the virtualresources, the properties comprising a performance level of a virtualresource. For example, the performance level can be the storageperformance, networking performance, etc., as noted above.

The machine-readable instructions include request reception instructions304 to receive a request to create a virtual resource in the cloudenvironment. The request is received from a tenant of the cloudenvironment, and the plurality of virtual resources are associated withthe tenant (e.g., have been previously deployed in the cloud environmentfor the tenant).

The machine-readable instructions further include virtual resourceselection instructions 306 to, in response to determining thatproperties of the virtual resource to be created for the request satisfya criterion with respect to properties of a given virtual resource ofthe plurality of virtual resources, select the given virtual resource asa candidate virtual resource for the request. Properties of the virtualresource to be created for the request satisfy a criterion with respectto properties of the given virtual resource if the properties match orare similar to within a specified tolerance (e.g., a similarity metriccomputed based on comparing properties indicates similarity greater thana similarity threshold).

In some examples, the machine-readable instructions include instructionsto monitor utilizations of the plurality of virtual resources. Selectionof the given virtual resource as a candidate virtual resource for therequest is based on the monitored utilizations. For example, an alreadydeployed virtual resource can be used to satisfy the request (instead ofcreating a new instance of the virtual resource) if the utilization ofthe already deployed virtual resource is less than a utilizationthreshold (and assuming the already deployed virtual resource hasproperties that satisfy the criterion with respect to the properties ofthe virtual resource to be created for the request).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system 400 that includes a hardwareprocessor 402 (or multiple hardware processors). The system 400 can beimplemented as a single computer or as multiple computers.

A hardware processor can include a microprocessor, a core of amulti-core microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable integratedcircuit, a programmable gate array, a digital signal processor, oranother hardware processing circuit.

The system 400 further includes a storage medium 404 that storesmachine-readable instructions executable on the hardware processor 402to perform respective tasks. Machine-readable instructions executable ona hardware processor can refer to the instructions executable on asingle hardware processor or the instructions executable on multiplehardware processors.

The machine-readable instructions include property associationinstructions 406 to associate, with a plurality of virtual resourcesdeployed in a cloud environment, properties representative ofcharacteristics of the virtual resources, the properties comprising aperformance level of a virtual resource.

The machine-readable instructions include request reception instructions408 to receive a request to create a virtual resource in the cloudenvironment. The machine-readable instructions further include propertycomparison instructions 410 to comparing properties of the virtualresource to be created for the request to the properties associated withthe plurality of virtual resources. Use of the selected virtual resourcefor the request allows the instructions to avoid creating a new virtualresource in response to the request.

The machine-readable instructions additionally include virtual resourceselection instructions 412 to, in response to the comparing, select avirtual resource from among the plurality of virtual resources as acandidate virtual resource for the request.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a process 500 according to further examples.The process 500 includes accessing (at 502) information of VMs deployedin a cloud environment, the information comprising properties of theVMs, the properties comprising a performance level of a VM. Theinformation of the VMs accessed includes information of cloud providersthat deploy the VMs, and where the cloud environment includes a hybridcloud environment

The process 500 further includes receiving (at 504) a request to createa VM in the cloud environment. In addition, the process 500 includes, inresponse to determining that properties of the VM to be created for therequest satisfy a criterion with respect to properties of a given VM ofthe plurality of VMs, selecting (at 506) the given VM as a candidate VMfor the request. In this manner, the request can be satisfied using thegiven VM instead of creating a new VM.

A storage medium (e.g., 300 or 404) can include any or some combinationof the following: a semiconductor memory device such as a dynamic orstatic random access memory (a DRAM or SRAM), an erasable andprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable andprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM) and flash memory; a magnetic disksuch as a fixed, floppy and removable disk; another magnetic mediumincluding tape; an optical medium such as a compact disc (CD) or adigital video disc (DVD); or another type of storage device. Note thatthe instructions discussed above can be provided on onecomputer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, or alternatively,can be provided on multiple computer-readable or machine-readablestorage media distributed in a large system having possibly pluralnodes. Such computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium ormedia is (are) considered to be part of an article (or article ofmanufacture). An article or article of manufacture can refer to anymanufactured single component or multiple components. The storage mediumor media can be located either in the machine running themachine-readable instructions, or located at a remote site from whichmachine-readable instructions can be downloaded over a network forexecution.

In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to providean understanding of the subject disclosed herein. However,implementations may be practiced without some of these details. Otherimplementations may include modifications and variations from thedetails discussed above. It is intended that the appended claims coversuch modifications and variations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumcomprising instructions that upon execution cause a system to:associate, with a plurality of virtual resources deployed in a cloudenvironment, properties representative of characteristics of the virtualresources, the properties comprising a performance level of a virtualresource; receive a request to create a virtual resource in the cloudenvironment; and in response to determining that properties of thevirtual resource to be created for the request satisfy a criterion withrespect to properties of a given virtual resource of the plurality ofvirtual resources, select the given virtual resource as a candidatevirtual resource for the request.
 2. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions that upon executioncause the system to: monitor utilizations of the plurality of virtualresources, wherein the selecting of the given virtual resource isfurther based on the monitored utilizations.
 3. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the selecting of thegiven virtual resource is based on determining that the utilization ofthe given virtual resource is less than a threshold.
 4. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein therequest is received from a tenant of the cloud environment, and theplurality of virtual resources are associated with the tenant.
 5. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein thetenant is selected from among a user, an organization, or a project. 6.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, whereinthe properties associated with the plurality of virtual resourcesfurther comprise a property relating to a resource of a respectivevirtual resource.
 7. The non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumof claim 6, wherein property relating to the resource of the respectivevirtual resource comprises a property relating to a processing resourceof the respective virtual resource.
 8. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein property relating tothe resource of the respective virtual resource comprises a propertyrelating to a storage resource of the respective virtual resource. 9.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 1, whereinthe properties associated with the plurality of virtual resourcesfurther comprise a property relating to an operating system of arespective virtual resource.
 10. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of virtual resourcescomprise a plurality of virtual machines, and the virtual resource to becreated for the request comprises a virtual machine to be created forthe request.
 11. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium ofclaim 1, wherein the cloud environment is selected from among a publiccloud environment, a private cloud environment, and a hybrid cloudenvironment.
 12. A system comprising: a processor; and a non-transitorystorage medium storing instructions executable on the processor to:associate, with a plurality of virtual resources deployed in a cloudenvironment, properties representative of characteristics of the virtualresources, the properties comprising a performance level of a virtualresource; receive a request to create a virtual resource in the cloudenvironment; comparing properties of the virtual resource to be createdfor the request to the properties associated with the plurality ofvirtual resources; and in response to the comparing, select a virtualresource from among the plurality of virtual resources as a candidatevirtual resource for the request.
 13. The system of claim 12, whereinuse of the selected virtual resource for the request allows theinstructions to avoid creating a new virtual resource in response to therequest.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions areexecutable on the processor to determine utilizations of respectivevirtual resources of the plurality of virtual resources, and wherein theselecting of the selected virtual resource is further based on thedetermined utilizations.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein theinstructions are executable on the processor to select the selectedvirtual machine responsive to determining that the utilization of theselected virtual machine is less than a threshold.
 16. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the properties associated with the plurality ofvirtual resources further comprise a property relating to a resource ofa respective virtual resource.
 17. The system of claim 12, wherein theproperties associated with the plurality of virtual resources furthercomprise a property relating to an operating system of a respectivevirtual resource.
 18. A method performed by a system comprising ahardware processor, comprising: accessing information of virtualmachines deployed in a cloud environment, the information comprisingproperties of the virtual machines, the properties comprising aperformance level of a virtual machine; receiving a request to create avirtual machine in the cloud environment; and in response to determiningthat properties of the virtual machine to be created for the requestsatisfy a criterion with respect to properties of a given virtualmachine of the plurality of virtual machines, selecting the givenvirtual machine as a candidate virtual machine for the request.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising satisfying the request using thegiven virtual machine instead of creating a new virtual machine.
 20. Themethod of claim 18, wherein accessing the information of the virtualmachines comprise accessing information of cloud providers that deploythe virtual machines, and wherein the cloud environment comprises ahybrid cloud environment.